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Health & Fitness

Discover the Roots of Royal Oak

 

If Michigan ’s Territorial Governor Lewis Cass had listened to his surveyor, Oakland County and specifically Royal Oak , the town so loved for homes, neighborhoods and shopping might never have occurred. In the early 1800s, his surveyor said the land was incapable of cultivation because of all its swamp oaks.

 

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However, Lewis Cass had a mind of his own. In 1819 he organized an inspection party to forge the rivers and walk upon the lands, not long after the governor wrangled this large chunk of land from Native American settlers and began to conduct formal land surveys. The soil quality was not wonderful for growing crops, the river didn’t yield much fish, but Cass found something magnetic.  

 

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Author Arthur Hagman, who compiled the Oakland County Book of History wrote: “After hours of wallowing through marshes which sunk their horses knee-deep in water, the Governor’s party came to a clearing containing a huge oak tree.  As he sat gazing into its great heights, he is said to have remarked, ‘This is truly a royal oak .’ ”

 

Cass recalled the often told story of his youth, of courage and magic in the 1600s in England. After losing the Battle of Worcester to the Roundheads, the future King Charles II hid in an oak tree in Boscobel Wood. Soldiers passed underneath and didn’t see him. Eventually he escaped and claimed the throne.

 

The populace celebrated the Boscobel Oak as Royal Oak day. In the 1930s, civic leaders from Royal Oak , Mich. petitioned England for seeds from the legendary mighty oak. They planted the seeds in the Detroit Zoo and, when they became saplings, planted in various places in Royal Oak. The coverlet of green continues to weave nature into to the built environment.

 

Learn more about Royal Oak every other week in Royal Oak Patch. For copies of Images of America: Royal Oak by Maureen McDonald and John S. Schultz, visit the Royal Oak Historical Museum or go to Royal Oak history book on Facebook. Visit www.royaloakhistoricalsociety.com/ or call (248) 439-7399. 


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